November 3, 2022
In 2019, several Napa Valley agencies, along with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, met as the Napa Valley Drought Contingency Plan Task Force (Napa Valley Drought Contingency Plan Task Force). DCP work). Members of the DCP task force include Napa County, the cities of Napa, American Canyon, Calistoga and St. Helena, the city of Yountville and the Napa Sanitation District. This group was tasked with developing a Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) to mitigate drought risks and prepare the region to respond to drought and resulting water supply problems. The DCP Task Force is pleased to announce the completion of the Napa Valley Drought Contingency Plan (NVDCP) – a living document that explores and brings understanding and action to the water future. In the region. The document and more information are online at napawatersheds.org/dcp.
The NVDCP incorporates the work done by some of the local water agencies into their city water management plans and water shortage contingency plans, and incorporates information from the county’s groundwater sustainability plan from Napa. The effort was aided by the Watershed Information and Conservation Council which served as an advisory committee to the DCP working group as the planning process progressed.
The development of this NVDCP included coordination with other local studies so that potential linkages supporting project implementation funding could be identified under the NVDCP. With the formation of the Napa County Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) in December 2019 and the corresponding development of the Napa Valley Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), opportunities for collaboration have been identified.
The NVDCP reviews and summarizes existing water supply and demand data for all relevant water agencies and end users, outlines local and national drought monitoring procedures, and establishes a framework administrative and organizational that identifies who is responsible for undertaking the actions necessary to implement the different elements. of the NVDCP.
The NVDCP also:
• Develops a process for the collection, analysis and dissemination of water availability and other drought-related data; assesses the vulnerability of water supplies to drought and climate change.
• Identifies, assesses and prioritizes mitigation actions and activities that will build long-term resilience to drought, mitigate risks posed by drought, decrease sector vulnerabilities and reduce the need for response actions.
• Identifies, assesses and prioritizes drought response actions and activities that can be implemented quickly during a drought to mitigate impacts and provide rapid benefits; sets out a step-by-step approach to implementation.
Vanessa Emerzian, project manager at the US Bureau of Reclamation, said, “This study will prove invaluable to the Napa Valley region as it examines future drought conditions and how they can be mitigated, and what regional projects may prove to be of greatest value. for resilience in the future. By completing the NVDCP, these projects can now be positioned for potential federal and state funding.
Under the NVDCP, local agencies have taken a closer look at several projects, including purchasing a storage allocation from Sites Reservoir, an integrated reservoir supply and operation study, and exploring the feasibility of an advanced purified water project in the Region. These three projects are actively worked on by various members of the DCP working group.
This press release was produced by the City of Napa. The opinions expressed here are those of the author.
